April 16-22, 2013 Events

Continue reading for events occurring this week throughout Washington, D.C.

TUESDAY, APRIL 16, 2013
Building Partner Capacity in West Africa
Hosted by: Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
Location: 1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, D.C. 20004
Time: 9:00am - 10:30am
Summary: Africa is an opportunity for expanding mutually beneficial partnerships and for growth. America should be investing more in the continent, helping to build infrastructure and relationships in these emerging markets, contributing to the stability and security of the region and making diplomatic gains that can pay dividends later. Events in West Africa and across the continent have made it clear that the U.S. has a strategic interest in African stability. For example, AFRICOM is currently supporting French operations in Mali against Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and associated forces, while Boko Haram in Nigeria has been increasingly active and looking to achieve an even wider impact. Military engagements and American investments in our African partners as they deal with the threats like those in Somalia are starting to produce encouraging results. That method could very well be the model for future engagements in West Africa and around the globe. At the same time, our interest in Africa should go beyond the near-term pressing security concerns. AFRICOMs work must be complemented by a robust trade, diplomacy and development strategy to support human rights, justice and freedom for commerce that builds partnerships, opens markets, promotes sustainable development, and addresses the underlying causes of instability.
For more information, please visit: http://www.wilsoncenter.org/event/building-partner-capacity-west-africa

Examining Ongoing Conflict in Eastern Congo
Hosted by: U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
Location: Dirksen Senate Office Building, Constitution Avenue and 1st Street, NE, Washington, D.C.
Time: 9:45am
Witnesses:

Mr. John Prendergast
Co-founder
Enough Project
Washington, DC

Mr. Mvemba Dizolele
Strategy and Advocacy Fellow
Eastern Congo Initiative
Washington, DC

Fr. Ferdinand Muhigirwa
Director
Centre d'Etudes Pour l'Action Sociale, Kinshasa
Democratic Republic of Congo

Mr. Federico Borello
Director, Investments
Humanity United
Washington, DC

For more information, please visit: http://www.foreign.senate.gov/hearings/examining-ongoing-conflict-in-eastern-congo

Assaults on the Fourth Estate: Explaining Media Harassment
Hosted by: Georgetown School of Foreign Service
Location: Georgetown University, 37 St NW and O St NW, Washington, DC
Time: 12:00pm - 1:30pm
Summary: How do we understand patterns of government interference with media outlets in Africa's transitional polities? Drawing on a novel dataset that tracks the extent and character of government actions against the media in twenty-three different African countries, this presentation will offer insight into this question. VonDoepp argues governments seek to control the circulation of information more during some periods than others. In particular, when governments face the prospect of being displaced or destabilized, and when they are seeking to enhance or extend their power via constitutional changes, their interests in corralling the free media should be heightened. The analysis reveals that government harassment of media outlets increases in the context of major public protests, revelations of coup plots, and when governments are seeking to amend constitutions in their favor. This offers insight into the ways that changing political contexts affect the health of the private media.
For more information, please visit: http://events.georgetown.edu/events/index.cfm?Action=View&CalendarID=141&EventID=102309

Rwandan Peacemaker and Quaker Pastor: David Bucura
Hosted by: GMU School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution
Location: George Mason University - Arlington Campus, Truland Building 555, 3351 Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA 22201
Time: 12:00pm - 1:30pm
Summary: David Bucura will discuss the impact of Healing and Rebuilding Our Community (HROC) in Central Africa through the lens of transformative mediation for reconciliation and the cultural impact of Children's Peace Libraries. (Brown Bag)
For more information, please visit: http://scar.gmu.edu/event/rwandan-peacemaker-and-quaker-pastor-david-bucura

Kenya's 2013 Elections: An Effective Assistance Model?
Hosted by: U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs
Location: Rayburn House Office Building, 45 Independence Ave SW, Washington, DC
Time: 2:00pm
Summary: Chairman Smith on the hearing: "Kenya made important changes in its government and electoral process since its last elections and, with significant U.S. assistance, successfully carried out an election that avoided the level of violence that followed the 2007 elections. However, in the constrained budget environment we face, our government will need to be realistic and selective about lessons from the Kenya experience that can be applied to future election assistance."

Witnesses:

Mr. Paul Fagan
Regional Director for Africa
International Republican Institute

Keith Jennings, Ph.D.
Senior Associate and Regional Director for Southern and East Africa
National Democratic Institute

Mr. Bill Sweeney
President and Chief Executive Officer
International Foundation for Electoral Systems

For more information, please visit: http://foreignaffairs.house.gov/hearing/subcommittee-hearing-kenyas-2013-elections-effective-assistance-model

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 17, 2013
Peanut Butter, Community-Based Conservation, and Other Innovative Development Approaches in East Africa's National Parks
Hosted by: Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
Location: 1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, D.C. 20004
Time: 12:00pm - 2:00pm
Summary: Wildlife areas and parks are designed to preserve plant and animal life in biological hotspots, but what about the people who live nearby these hotspots? In many parts of East Africa, communities press right up against park boundaries and people have few alternatives but to draw on the natural resources of the protected areas. Conservation efforts depend on these communities cooperation and the sustainability of their livelihoods. Integrated approaches to conservation and development can both preserve biodiversity and improve the lives of the people who have long depended on these resources. Dale Lewis of WCSs Community Markets for Conservation in Zambia and Katherine Raphaelson of the Gorongosa Restoration Project in Mozambique will discuss innovative ways they have addressed conservation, park restoration and improving the wellbeing of surrounding communities, including using peanut butter to replace poaching as a livelihood in Zambia.
For more information, please visit: http://www.wilsoncenter.org/event/peanut-butter-community-based-conservation-and-other-innovative-development-approaches-east

Inequality and Inclusive Growth in Africa
Hosted by: Brookings Institution
Location: Brookings Institution, Falk Auditorium, 1775 Massachusetts Ave, NW, Washington, D.C. 20036
Time: 4:00pm - 5:30pm
Summary: Africa is the world's second-fastest growing region, and South Africa is the continent's economic leader. The country recently hosted the BRICS Summit and has been working hard to promote growth and encourage investment. Yet inequality has been a persistent challenge. As the economies of South Africa and the African continent continue to expand, governments in the region must ensure that such growth follows a sustainable model that creates wage-paying jobs and lifts citizens out of poverty.

On April 17, the Africa Growth Initiative at Brookings will host a conversation with the Honorable Pravin Gordhan, minister of finance for the Republic of South Africa, on inequality and inclusive growth in South Africa and the African continent. Minister Gordhan's remarks will be followed by a panel discussion with Brookings Senior Fellow Homi Kharas, deputy director of Global Economy and Development. Brookings Vice President Kemal Dervis, director of Global Economy and Development, will moderate the discussion.

After the program, panelists will take audience questions. This event will also be live webcast and you can join the conversation on Twitter using #Africagrowth.
For more information, please visit: http://www.brookings.edu/events/2013/04/17-inequality-growth-africa?rssid=UpcomingEvents&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BrookingsRSS%2Ftopfeeds%2FUpcomingEvents+%28Brookings+Upcoming+Events%29

THURSDAY, APRIL 18, 2013
Input Subsidy Programs in Developing Countries: What Works, What Doesn't, and Why?
Location: International Food Policy Research Institute, Fourth Floor Conference Facility, 2033 K Street, NW, Washington, D.C.
Time: 12:15pm - 1:45pm
Summary: After having been largely eliminated by structural adjustment programs in the 1980s and 1990s, many African countries have reintroduced large-scale input subsidy programs. The subsidy programs' benefits, however, are highly contested, and there remains a lack of recent and high-quality research to inform policy discussion and guide research on more targeted "smart" subsidy programs implemented recently across the region.

Join us for a panel discussion of experts talking about methods, evidence, and implications for subsidy policies in developing countries. Thomas Jayne of Michigan State University and Shahidur Rashid of IFPRI will present highlights from several country studies focused on Africa and Asia. Their presentations will be followed by comments from Derek Byerlee, former senior advisor at the World Bank and director of the 2008 World Development Report on Agriculture; and Simeon Ehui, manager of the World Bank's Agriculture and Rural Development sector, South Asia Region.
For more information, please visit: http://www.ifpri.org/event/input-subsidy-programs-developing-countries

Tier Rankings in the Fight Against Human Trafficking
Hosted by: U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs
Location: Rayburn House Office Building, 45 Independence Ave SW, Washington, DC
Time: 1:00pm
Summary: Chairman Smith on the hearing: "This hearing will take a hard look at respective government efforts to fight human trafficking in China, Russia, Uzbekistan, Iraq, Azerbaijan, and Democratic Republic of Congo, and whether these governments should be promoted to Tier 2, or demoted to Tier 3 in the State Department's 2013 Trafficking in Persons Report (TIP)," said Subcommittee Chairman Chris Smith. "They must, by law, be moved off the Tier 2 Watch List this year. From the halls of parliaments to small police stations in remote corners of the world, the TIP Report has become the gold standard of anti-trafficking accountability and our most effective diplomatic tool.  However, the continued credibility of the TIP Report — and its impact to help the victims — rests on accurate rankings of a government's actions to combat human trafficking."

Witnesses:

The Honorable Mark Lagon
International Relations and Security Chair
Master of Science in Foreign Service Program
Georgetown University
(Former Ambassador-at-Large for Trafficking in Persons, U.S. Department of State)

Nguyen Dinh Thang, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Boat People SOS

Ms. Suzanne Schulte
President
North Korea Freedom Coalition

Mr. Brian Campbell
Director of Policy and Legal Programs
International Labor Rights Forum

For more information, please visit: http://foreignaffairs.house.gov/hearing/subcommittee-hearing-tier-rankings-fight-against-human-trafficking

Food for Thought: After the Revolution, What Role for Technology in Africa?
Hosted by: Georgetown University Law Center
Location: Georgetown University Law Center, McDonough 164, 600 New Jersey Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. 20001
Time: 12:15pm - 1:45pm
For more information, please visit: https://schedule.law.georgetown.edu/MasterCalendar/EventDetails.aspx?data=hHr80o3M7J6pRj%2fZT8A1QunESbT84Brpx%2b9MvZVivxcbDaDWy853J3jLZBNziGda

Making and Unmaking Nations: The Dynamics of Mass Violence and Genocide in Contemporary Africa
Hosted by: Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies
Location: Johns Hopkins SAIS - Rome Building, 1619 Massachusetts Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C.
Time: 4:30pm - 6:00pm
Summary: Scott Straus, professor of political science and international studies at the University of Wisconsin, will discuss this topic.
For more information, please visit: http://sais-jhu.edu/events/2013-04-18-163000-2013-04-18-180000/making-and-unmaking-nations-dynamics-mass-violence-and

Rwanda: Economic Prospects and Challenges
Location: 37th and O St., N.W. Washington, DC 20007
Time: 5:30pm - 7:30pm
Summary: After the ravages of the mid-1990s genocide, Rwanda has managed to emerge as one of the fastest growing economies on the African continent. Though landlocked and with one of the highest population densities in the region, the government has put in place stable macroeconomic policies, a welcoming investment climate, and a culture relatively free of corruption. Still, the country confronts ominous challenges — continuing to rebuild social cohesion, simmering conflict next door in the eastern Congo, and the natural difficulties of moving to a more diversified economy in an uncertain global environment.

Please join us to discuss these issues with the new Minister of Finance of Rwanda, Mr. Claver Gatete, on Thursday, April 18, 2013 at 5:30 pm in the Georgetown Public Policy Institute, 205 Old North. Mr. Gatete, the former Governor of the National Bank of Rwanda and Rwanda's ambassador to the United Kingdom, will speak on Rwanda's problems and prospects. The meeting will be chaired by Dr. Danny Leipziger, who is currently Professor of International Business and International Affairs at GWU and Managing Director of the Growth Dialogue, and who until 2009 served as Vice President, Poverty Reduction and Economic Management at the World Bank.

The meeting is co-sponsored by the Georgetown Public Policy Institute, the Forum on International Development, and the International Growth Centre, a DFID-financed joint venture of Oxford University and the London School of Economics.
For more information, please visit: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/6250267719

The Eritrea/Ethiopia Claims Commission: What are the Lessons Learnt for Future Claims Commissions?
Hosted by: American University Washington School of Law
Time: 6:00pm - 7:30pm
Location: 4801 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. 20016
Summary: This event will feature a panel discussion moderated by Chiara Giorgetti (Richmond Law) with contributions by Professors Sean Murphy (GWU Law), Michael J. Matheson (GWU Law), and John R. Crook (GWU Law). The discussion will include reference to the newly published Litigating War: Mass Civil Injury and the Eritrea-Ethiopia Claims Commission by Sean D. Murphy, Won Kidane, and Thomas R. Snider. While this event is not free to ASIL Academic Partner students, it is free for all ASIL members. In addition to being free for ASIL members, students of ASIL Academic Partners can attend for FREE. They just need to register online with the discount code of UNPART. The event will also award Continuing Legal Education credits, so feel free to let interested faculty or practice colleagues who might be interested know as well.
For more information, please visit: http://www.asil.org/activities_calendar.cfm?action=detail&rec=269

FRIDAY, APRIL 19, 2013
What are the IMF and the World Bank? Why Should I Care?
Hosted by: Institute for Policy Studies
Time: 12:00pm - 2:00pm
Location: 1112 16th St. NW, Suite 600, Washington, D.C. 20036
Summary: The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are two of the most powerful institutions in the world, yet few people know what they do. The World Bank and the IMF act like giant banks whose customers are countries. The World Bank loans countries money for big infrastructure projects like hydroelectric dams, coal-fired power plants, transportation systems, and industrial agriculture technology. The IMF waits until countries are getting behind on their loan payments, then loans them money in exchange for sweeping reforms to the country's budget that disregards democracy. Both institutions have caused economic crisis, worsened environmental damage, and put human rights at risk.
As these two institutions get together for a summit April 19-21, IPS invites you to a talk with experts Emira Woods and John Cavanagh, who will provide an introduction to the World Bank and IMF. This talk for beginners will go over the basics of these institutions, and give examples of their impact from Africa, Latin America, Asia, and other regions. Please come, participate, and ask questions!
For more information, please visit: http://www.ips-dc.org/events/what_are_the_imf_and_the_world_bank_why_should_i_care